“It is not here in the room,” answered the intruder, “but I have seen it and it appears like your description.”
“‘Similar’ and ‘appearing’ are not good enough,” snapped the orb coldly. “You must be certain.”
“Yes, master.” The elf bowed.
“What of their identities?”
“None of them are who they claim to be, master, nor do they know the whereabouts of the true Ellorian Champions.”
Eric cursed himself for letting them speak with this servant present, and it suddenly occurred to him to stop this communication, not listen to it for intel. He stepped forward and pushed open the door, hoping to catch the spy by surprise.
“Fool!” the orb snapped. “You are seen!”
The intruder whirled and threw a punch that knocked Eric back, a kick to the chest sending him to the floor. The elf leapt over him and started down the hall with surprising speed. Winded but undaunted, Eric pursued him.
The elf disappeared around first one corner and then another as they dashed by startled servants and house guests. Eric was losing ground and reached for a throwing knife to slow the intruder down as they neared an open archway, green fields beyond. Suddenly Lorian strode into view between the intruder and freedom, looking concerned at the commotion. Matt followed, a smile fading at the sight of Eric chasing someone.
“Stop him!” Eric shouted.
The spy threw a knife at Lorian, who leapt out of its path. He spoke a magic word and made a halting gesture. A brief flicker of light surrounded the intruder, but he didn’t stop. Lorian’s eyes registered surprise before he jumped forward, one leg arcing through the air violently. The intruder rolled under the kick, sprang to his feet, and took off, casting an intense look at the staff in Matt’s hand.
Running across the grass toward the forest, the spy turned into a black buck with silver streaks, wicked black antlers thrashing through low branches as it dashed into the underbrush. Lorian transformed himself into an even larger brown buck and bounded after in pursuit. Eric and Matt exchanged startled looks.
Ryan suddenly cantered up with Anna lagging behind on her horse.
“Get on!” Ryan shouted, having clearly seen enough from where they’d been riding.
“Take Matt,” Eric said, running up to Anna and leaping belly first onto her horse. He awkwardly managed to right himself behind her. Then he wrapped both arms around her and kicked the horse hard. Battle-trained and excited, it took off so fast he almost fell off. Ryan grabbed a half-willing Matt by the arm and hauled the wizard up behind him, then followed and overtook the others, his expert horsemanship paying off.
“Down!” Ryan called out as they raced into thin branches at a gallop. Matt scrunched down behind the knight’s broad back as they leaned forward. Anna buried her face in her own horse’s neck. Trying to shield her from the branches that slapped at him, Eric reached forward with one hand, feeling them sting his hands and face before they burst into daylight.
To one side, two bucks frantically raced through the thin forest, bounding over fallen trees and ducking low branches. The brown one had already halved the distance to the smaller black one. Ryan charged ahead and Eric realized he was looking for a good place to block the way. They soon slowed to a trot, moving into the woods ahead of the deer. Eric’s horse followed more from training than from Anna’s weak and confused commands.
“Everybody off,” commanded the knight, “and spread out.”
They clumsily complied before Eric realized this wasn’t smart. The buck’s antlers were fearsome weapons that suddenly appeared before them as the buck crashed into view. It came straight toward the undefended Ellorian Champions. The intruder saw the way blocked and an available horse, so he changed back into an elf and stepped toward it, something falling to the ground and rolling under some leaves as he did so. Ryan stood nearest that horse and slapped its rump so that it moved out of reach, the other horse following.
Seeing the false Lord Korrin, the elf sneered and stepped forward. Then the brown buck bounded up behind him and he turned to face Lorian, whose antlers were too close for the elf to transform before he’d be gored. With a snarl of irritation, the intruder turned back to Ryan but found Eric had replaced the knight. The rogue flashed an insincere smile of greeting and punched the elf in the face, knocking him down.
“Now we’re even,” the rogue remarked in satisfaction. To his surprise, the spy’s nose had shattered, spraying blood everywhere. Eric didn’t think he’d hit that hard.
Lorian morphed back into an elf and approached, hauling the spy up with Eric’s help.
“Who are you?” Lorian demanded, receiving only a glare in response.
Matt stood watching the item that had fallen into the leaves, seeing its surface moving strangely. He went to where it lay and pushed aside the leaves to find an orb, which still swirled with colors as he looked into it. A partially hidden face stared back. At first he assumed it was his reflection, for it certainly stared with a curiosity bordering on his, but while his face shone with innocent wonder, nothing innocent existed in the cold, angry visage that appraised him.
“Lorian, I found something that guy dropped,” he said, unnerved.
The elf’s eyes widened on seeing the orb. “Bring it here, quickly.”
The wizard did so, but as he neared the intruder, words of magic that he now recognized suddenly erupted from the orb.
“Rolinmor astorli nurarki a finta!” Burning light, strike as fire!
Crackling bolts of lightning arced from the orb to strike the spy in the head and chest, incinerating him. Eric and Lorian recoiled in surprise, letting the intruder fall as Matt dropped the orb in alarm. When the attack finally stopped, the smell of charred flesh filled the air. Anna choked and turned away to vomit. No one had to check the intruder’s pulse to tell he
